July 28, 2024

A Safe Bet?


A Safe Bet?
Admit it, you've only ever seen one of these in a James Bond movie. The Russian Life files.

A new law program in Russia seeks to make gambling harder for those who struggle with it.

On July 25, Russian lawmakers in the State Duma drafted a law that would fine gambling operators for taking bets from citizens who have banned themselves from games of chance.

The law was submitted alongside a program that allows gamblers to add themselves to a database, that would mark them as "self-banning." It would be illegal for entities to offer betting opportunities to these persons. Those that do could face fines up to R100,000 (about $1200). 

This initiative seeks to combat gambling addiction, a mental illness that, according to the Duma, has only increased with the global rise in sports betting.

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Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 

Faith & Humor
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A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.

Life Stories
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Life Stories

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.

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